What I Ate Yesterday (Thursday)

Happy Friday!  I hope you have as much fun planned for your weekend as I do.  Let’s get the party started.

Here is recap of yesterday’s food.  I had pre-planned my free birthday meal at Tucano’s and made reservations for 7pm.  Long gone are the days of trying to eat like mice and save up all my DPA for my dinner.  I’d starve to death!  I had 30 WPPA still left and knew I would be tapping into that.

Breakfast

My day started with my usual eggs, potatoes, pepper, and chicken breakfast sausage.  Today I cut up a red potato instead of using the frozen potatoes.  It was just as tasty as it always is.

Lunch

I had leftover beans from a crockpot of beans I made on Tuesday.   This is a bean recipe from the Owyhee County Cookbook and one of my favorites.  I went a bit lighter on the brown sugar and thought it could have used some BBQ sauce too.  I also added in turkey summer sausage instead of the ground beef/bacon the recipe calls for.  I love beans!

Snack

I planned two snacks today since I was working a 12-hour shift.  My first meal was at 5am and dinner was planned at 7pm.  I mixed 4oz non-fat Greek yogurt with 9g peanut butter and a little dollop of honey mixed in.  I cut up an apple for dipping.  My second snack was another apple with a WW string cheese.

Dinner

Tucanos is my very favorite place to eat!  It is super expensive (but I’ve heard cheap compared to other Brazilian Grille options in larger cities) and totally worth the extra money.  However, once a year I get a birthday card in the mail for a free meal.  Yahooooo! 

If you have never been to a restaurant like this it is quite the experience.  You can read about my previous experience here. (And seeing the frozen yogurt with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in that photo just perked up my tastebuds).

Counting PPVs can be tough as there really isn’t any NI and sometimes the food that comes out on the rotation is prepared larger or smaller.  I have been enough times that I know what I want and I only eat what interests me.  My system is to count 1 PPV per piece of meat, 1 PPV per serving of roasted pineapple, 1 PPV per serving of roasted veggies, 2 PPV per serving of sausage, and 2 PPV per serving of the fried white fish.  I am not temped by the hot items on the salad bar so I usually fix a 0 PPV salad with ranch on the side.  Sometimes I will get beans and olives on my salad.  I love their cheesy bread balls and I count those as 1 PPV per bread ball.

It isn’t an exact science but if I keep track of how much I consume it works enough for me to have accountability but still enjoy my dinner.  Usually I leave eating quite a bit of PPVs.  I don’t believe in “getting your money’s worth” or stuffing myself like a turkey on Thanksgiving.  I enjoy the food and I don’t restrict myself.  The overall experience is always enjoyable.

I had not planned on getting dessert and we usually don't. Kenyon mentioned getting the mango cake with mango ice cream, which we have tried before.  

Sometimes you need a Plan B.

3rd Annual 911 PSAP Seminar

Good Morning!

I had the privilege yesterday of attending the 3^rd Annual 911 PSAP Seminar.  I love this training.  It is FREE training offered to 911 dispatchers around the state of Idaho and provides a great opportunity to meet and greet and network with other dispatchers that I often talk to but don’t see.  I attended the conference last year as well.

This year’s PSAP conference was just as exceptional.  It was again held at the Red Lion Downtown and while they made a few changes from last year it was still a great venue.  I thought the line for food at lunch was a bit unorganized and I wasn’t a fan of the chair set-up in the ballroom.  It all just felt a bit clustered.  Despite those two things it was a really enjoyable time.

The first session I attended was instructed by Lacy Craig, and her counterpart Val,  and discussed the Fusion Center.  This is a centralized resource available to all Law Enforcement and should be utilized.  I loved learning more about the center and where I can direct other agencies that call with questions (since ISP is often the catch-all for questions and requests from around the state).

The afternoon session I attended was instructed by Sgt. Joe Ramirez at Nampa PD and discussed Critical Incidents.  Sgt. Ramirez has many years of experience on various task forces in crisis negotiations.  We discussed mostly the suicidal caller and how to navigate those difficult situations.

The last session was instructed by Norby Rudel at Internal Performance.  He discussed the difficult working environment of the dispatch center and how positive reinforcement/feedback can help.  As dispatchers we often don’t hear “thank you” or “good job” and it is important to make sure your coworkers feel appreciated.  We also worked through scenarios for giving improvement feedback as well. 

The original keynote speaker was unable to attend so a last minute switch was made.  Edwin Hutchinson, Ph.D, L.C.S.W, from Coeur d’ Alene was flown in to talk with us.  He is a counselor with many years experience.  I really loved his down-to-earth and honest approach.  What really stayed with me was when he explained that as dispatchers we are there with nobody else is.  We answer the phone when the caller doesn’t have anybody else to talk to.  We hold an important job and you should enjoy what you do but the job itself isn’t your life.  What you do outside your job is your life.  He explained that we are all self employed.  Really?  Self employed?  Yes.  He explained that each day you charge the State of Idaho a contracted amount of money for one unit of your life.  However, if something happens to you and you have to spend time in the hospital that you will be charged a large amount for that one unit of your life.  The return investment isn’t that great and we need to take good care of ourselves. 

The Birthday Plan

I have Friday through Monday off work this weekend.  I am SUPER excited.

The Birthday Plan:

When I turned 30 I had my birthday party at the roller skating rink.  My friends were such good sports that I also had my 31^st, 33nd, and 33^rd birthday at the roller skating rink.  Last year I decided I wanted and adult party and planned a get together downtown for drinks with my closest girlfriends.  The kiddos that missed out on roller skating that year were really bummed.  We ended up putting together a roller skating day for the kids a few weeks after my birthday.  I love to see their smiling faces and we always have so much fun.  It is really neat to see how much improvement their skating skills have gotten from year to year (i.e. lots less crying).

This year I decided to have both an adult party and a skating party.  Hey, you can never have too many parties!

But before all of that, my birthday weekend will officially kick off on Thursday.  Kenyon and I are going to use my free meal birthday card at Tucanos after I get off work.  I love Tucanos so I am super excited for dinner with my main squeeze!

Kenyon actually took Thursday and Friday off work but I had already planned a get together with my girlfriends.  Friday we are meeting downtown for drinks and food.  I picked a place that has 2 for 1 drinks but lets you chose different drinks instead of having to have the same drink twice.  I love this concept and there are so many wonderful drinks to choose from.  They also have a happy hour food menu with decent prices and I’m hopeful for some coconut ice cream!

Saturday is roller skating and then a get together in the park.  I am debating getting some yummy cupcakes from a cupcake shop that is running a GroupOn deal.  I feel like I should serve my guests some snacks as well so I am just not sure how much $$ I should shell out.  Yummy cupcakes sure sound good though don’t they?

Sunday we have booked massages and I have a free hot stone upgrade for my birthday.

Monday is still pretty wide open.  We might be relaxing after all the party fun!  I do plan to attend my WW meeting that morning and I can now officially attend my Tuesday morning meeting as well.  I’ll be doing a double dose of WW so I can still attend with my friend Jamie and also see my peeps and leader on Tuesday.

You know you are a re-focused WWer when you WI after your birthday weekend.

Come on Thursday….let’s get this party started!!!!